- Paperback
- Publisher: Random House Inc.; READING CREASES, LIGHT EDGE CORNER WEAR, edition (30 Jun 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1400034159
- ISBN-13: 978-1400034154
- Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 2.8 x 17.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,531,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Emperor Of Ocean Park
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
A complex, smart mystery filled with intrigue, drama, and more than a little danger awaits readers in Stephen L Carter's engaging debut novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park.
After the funeral of his powerful father (a federal judge whose nomination to the US Supreme Court became a public scandal), Talcott Garland, an African-American law professor at an Ivy League university, is left to unravel the meaning of a cryptic note and carry out "the arrangements" his father left behind. Armed with fortitude and familial devotion--though paranoid of his wife's fidelity--Talcott soon finds himself in an investigation that entangles him with a number of questionable Washington DC denizens, including lawyers and government officials, law professors, the FBI, shady underworld figures, chess masters, and friends and family. All the while Talcott tries not to hurt his lawyer wife's chance for a judicial nomination--and their fragile marriage--but the closer he comes to unravelling his father's dark secrets, the more dangerous things become.
Clocking in at over 650 pages, the novel could easily have been streamlined; many of Talcott's thoughts are unnecessarily repeated. But Carter's storytelling skills are adept: tension builds, surprises are genuine and clues are not handed out freely. The prose, while somewhat meandering, can be crisp and insightful, as demonstrated in Carter's description of the misguided paths of young lawyers who sacrifice, "all on the altar of career... at last arriving... at their cherished career goals, partnerships, professorships, judgeships, whatever kind of ships they dream of sailing, and then looking around at the angry, empty waters and realizing that they have arrived with nothing, absolutely nothing, and wondering what to do with the rest of their wretched lives". --Michael Ferch --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Henry Louis Gates
‘Spellbinding… a truly literary thriller - a masterly amalgam of suspense and sensibility’
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is both a ridiculously all-through-the-night read and, more importantly, a revealing meditation about being black in contemporary America. The author was asked many times in interview if the law professor hero (who is left a mystery, literally, in his father's will), was based on himself - it is a measure of how well written the book is that by the end you have no doubt of the strength of Stephen Carter's imagination. Despite the brilliant and leisurely detective story, the thing that stays with me the most is the extraordinary depiction of how racially divided life in the US still is, even for the privileged, educated son of a high-ranking judge. A really salutory tale.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A distinctly average novel. Although it does have some well-written passages and the occasional bit of striking imagery, it is ultimately a huge disappointment (especially given the considerable hype and allegedly massive advance it received).
It's too long and has too few changes in pace. 600+ pages of "and then I did this", "now I'm doing that" become a bit wearing after a while.
Also, it commits the cardinal sin of too often "telling" instead of "showing".
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book was a treat! It is not only a well-plotted thriller with complex and interesting characters, but also an insight into the lives of the well-to-do black community in the US. The writing is crisp and intelligent. The main character, Talcott Garland, believes his father died in suspicious circumstances, and decides to investigate, helped (if you can call it that) by a cryptic note left for him by his father. The ground is constantly shifting, and Talcott finds that he cannot trust anyone because he can never be sure who the enemy is. Usually I find that in many thrillers, the end tends to be a bit of an anti-climax. This is not true of this book. I defintely recommend it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Did nothing for me
I agree with Fredd 88. I had two goes at reading the book, and never finished it. There is no hook, and the narrative falls flat. Read more
Published 15 days ago by M. Asher
Absolute shocker
I have read many books in my time and would consider myself well versed in the realm of books, I can quite honestly say I have never read a more boring book in my life! Read more
Published 22 months ago by Fredd 88
Majestic Stuff
Is this a thriller? Just - in the sense that the plot is driven by the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of the hero's father. Read more
Published on 11 Feb 2010 by I. Read-Books
Read true literature
I bought this book maybe six years ago and since it has been collecting dust as I was going through life and what I thought were more interesting reads. Read more
Published on 29 Sep 2009 by Diaa M. Fakhr
Good but too long
Interesting, though eventually anticlimatic, but far too long. Should have been shortened by a skilful editor from 880 [paperback] pages to 350 or even 250 pages.
Published on 4 Nov 2004 by Colin Ingram
Very long, but sufficiently interesting
This book has a cleverly constructed plot, and the twist which seems to occur at the end of every chapter keeps you hooked. Read more
Published on 11 Aug 2004 by T. Crease
A boring emperor
I entirely agree with the reviewer from Nelson, this is a revealing book about the African American middle class, but as a thriller it fails totally. Read more
Published on 10 July 2004
The novel is dead!
The novel is dead ... at least, the great American novel is, if it is truewhat the critics say about this book: brilliant, witty, cleverlyconstructed, inspired. Read more
Published on 22 April 2004 by NN
Race? Ok. Long? Ok. Brilliant? I think so.
This is a book that, unfortunately for those that like such things, defies my attempts at categorisation. Read more
Published on 24 Mar 2004 by "ljtaylor14"
Too many words my dear Carter
The Emperor of Ocean Park was the first of a two-book deal with an initial advance of reputedly 4.2 million dollars. Read more
Published on 10 Oct 2003
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